Lawn Mower Recommendations?

[Schfifty Five]

Thinking about buying a lawn mower. Now that I have a house with a medium size-ish yard, the thought of paying lawn mowing services $50-100 per month seems ridiculous.

I was thinking of just buying something around $200, but was wondering if those would just breakdown quickly.

Anything to look out for or avoid?

Thanks!

 

[edro]

I have a $120 Craftsman push mower for about 10 years and it still runs fine.
Push mowers are usually pretty bullet proof.
I have since upgraded to a $700 Honda self propelled, which saves your legs.

 

[Blain]

I would recommend a self-propelled model with rear wheel drive.
$200 is pretty low for anything but a plain push mower.
Check out reviews at Mowers Direct. You don't have to buy from there, but it's a good place to find reviews on many different brands. Reviews for "brands" are what I'd pay more attention to, rather than specific models. That will give you a better idea of a brands overall quality.

 

[cabri]

Define medium size

 

[Schfifty Five]

Define medium size

Very small front lawn, and a back yard with less than 500 sq ft of grass to cut.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I would recommend a self-propelled model with rear wheel drive.
$200 is pretty low for anything but a plain push mower.
Check out reviews at Mowers Direct. You don't have to buy from there, but it's a good place to find reviews on many different brands. Reviews for "brands" are what I'd pay more attention to, rather than specific models. That will give you a better idea of a brands overall quality.

Thanks for the link, I'll definitely check that out!

 

[Schfifty Five]

I have a $120 Craftsman push mower for about 10 years and it still runs fine.
Push mowers are usually pretty bullet proof.
I have since upgraded to a $700 Honda self propelled, which saves your legs.

Thanks for the response. Self propelled definitely sounds nice, but I'm thinking with my smaller-ish yard, I could probably save some money and get a push mower.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Another question: Is it better to have side discharge or should I get one that can hold a bag for clippings? I heard that side discharge can be good since the grass clippings can feed your lawn, etc.

 

[Blain]

Mulch = better than side discharge

 

[cabri]

Very small front lawn, and a back yard with less than 500 sq ft of grass to cut.

Get a reel mower.

Proper amount of exercise for that size place

 

[NutBucket]

Troy-Bilt TB130 sound about perfect.

 

[herm0016]

get electric! We have about .25 acres and a small house, more yard than you have and can mow the whole thing on one charge if the grass is not too long.

electric is great. we have had this for 2 years and i don't regret the purchase at all.
http://www.blackanddecker.com/en-US...mowers/36v-19-in-mulchingbagging-mower/cm1936
The only gas powered lawn thing i have left is an old sthil.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I've got a gas powered Honda with self propelled rear wheels. I think it's a 21" or 22" blade. Bought at HD for about $500. I was using an electric one prior and it just didn't cut the grass as well for me. Although, with the drought and how infrequent I water the lawn now, it would've worked just fine.

 

[Ketchup]

I have a front-drive Craftsman that has been decent for almost 10 years now. The only real problem with these (as I have seen videos for similar Craftsman self-propelled push mowers):

The teeth on the wheels that the drive motor uses to turn the wheel to are plastic. Eventually, they will wear out. A guy in town had these in stock and it wasn't a huge undertaking, but something to watch out for. One pair of wheels replaced in 10 years shouldn't be enough to discourage you from one of these.

The only other problem with this mower was my fault, sort of. Never put gasoline with ethanol in these (or any other carbureted engine, for that matter). Either go to a station that sells non-ethanol gas (recommended), or buy an additive that removes the ethanol from the gas (there is debate as to how effective these products are). If you don't, you will end up with a clogged carburetor.

Front drive vs rear drive is up for debate. Rear drive pulls better, which is great if you are on a hill. Front drive is nice because I can just pull up the front wheels and turn it, without releasing the drive motor.

 

[bigi]

get electric! We have about .25 acres and a small house, more yard than you have and can mow the whole thing on one charge if the grass is not too long.

electric is great. we have had this for 2 years and i don't regret the purchase at all.
http://www.blackanddecker.com/en-US...mowers/36v-19-in-mulchingbagging-mower/cm1936
The only gas powered lawn thing i have left is an old sthil.

I have .4 acre to mow. Got EGO 56V electric and 2 batteries. I can do all with 2 batteries and have spare to use with my hedge trimmer and/or chainsaw.

It is very light, quiet and folds great for storage. Home Depot had it on sale lately.

I don't want to deal with petroleum distillate at home if I don't have to.

 

[Aikouka]

I use the 80v Kobalt mower, and it's not too bad. I do have one huge issue with it, and that's the fact that you cannot let your lawn go. The mower does well with its battery usage as long as it doesn't have to spin up all the way for long periods of time, which is what happens when it's mowing tall grass. I closed on my house on a Monday, and I don't think the original owner had mowed it that past weekend. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to it until Saturday, and it was pretty bad. The backyard, which isn't that big, took around 3-4 charges.

However, I mowed this past weekend, and it worked well enough. One full battery handled the entire backyard.

 

[gorb]

I had a Toro that lasted for around 12 years. I bought another Toro recently and it's been working just fine. It also stores vertically which is convenient.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Toro-22-...-SmartStow-20339/205026227?N=5yc1vZc5apZbwo5o

 

[Ketchup]

I had a Toro that lasted for around 12 years. I bought another Toro recently and it's been working just fine. It also stores vertically which is convenient.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Toro-22-...-SmartStow-20339/205026227?N=5yc1vZc5apZbwo5o

12 years? Ha! The Homelite my Craftsman replaced was 25 years old! But I was ready for self-propelled.

 

[NoCreativity]

The only other problem with this mower was my fault, sort of. Never put gasoline with ethanol in these (or any other carbureted engine, for that matter). Either go to a station that sells non-ethanol gas (recommended), or buy an additive that removes the ethanol from the gas (there is debate as to how effective these products are). If you don't, you will end up with a clogged carburetor.

I just use some Stabil and I have only had one carb issue with my mower which is now 10 years old. And that was probably more from using old gas and not running the mower dry at the end of every season.

For that small plot of grass I'd go without self propelled.

 

[mvbighead]

The one thing I have noticed with regard to some push mowers is the contact points near the wheels can rust out. I assume this is accelerated if you frequently mow a wet yard.

In any case, I'd look for something that is fairly well protected under the deck near the wheels. I'd likely consider 'treating' it with several coats of rust-proof paint.

That said, almost any push mower should get a minimum of 5 years of service and if properly cared for well in excess of that.

 

[DrPizza]

12 years? Ha! The Homelite my Craftsman replaced was 25 years old! But I was ready for self-propelled.

25 years? Ha! My International Harvester built, with a Kohler engine Cub Cadet is 45 years old! And it is self-propelled - I even get to sit on it and go for a ride. Though, putting on new tires last year cost more than many push mowers cost to buy.

Anyway, OP, for your extremely tiny yard, assuming your square footage estimate is accurate, I agree with the poster above - it's perfect for a reel mower. Wasting money on a self-propelled lawnmower for what amounts to a 20'x25' area is overkill, plus takes up more storage space than a reel mower. You're not going to wear out the lawnmower, so what's more important if you get a gas mower is maintenance. If available, only use 100% gasoline (no ethanol added). If you have to use 10% ethanol, then add the stabil to the gasoline right when you fill your gas jug. After mowing, and the lawnmower has cooled, clean the top and bottom of the mowing deck. Learn which side you have to tilt the lawnmower toward, to avoid problems with oil running out when you're cleaning the bottom. Check the oil level EVERY time you're about to use the lawnmower. Change the oil once annually. Clean the air filter at least annually. The last time you run the mower for the season, run it dry, and learn how to drain the gas out of the float in the carburetor, then attempt to start it several times. Never leave it out in the rain, never cut the grass while it's raining. Do these things, and the mower will last you for decades. Or, keep maintenance to a minimum - get a reel mower; it's ideal for such a small yard.

Incidentally, glancing around the Internet, it seems that less than a 1/4 acre of lawn is considered a small yard. .25 acres is over 10,000 square feet. You sure you're not missing a zero on your 500 square feet?

 

[cabri]

500 sq feet is about a good size two car garage

 

[Blain]

Mine is 720
It was just finished this morning. The 8' doors make for some awesome headroom inside.
Another good thing is that I now have less yard to mow.

 

[highland145]

I think the 500 is just the back.

 

[Schfifty Five]

500 sq feet is about a good size two car garage

I am just ball parking my "back yard" which is actually more of a side yard but enclosed next to my garage. It's much narrower than the garage, but longer. It's some what of an odd shape, but I estimate it to be something like 20 feet wide at it's widest, and about 50 feet deep. However, plants/trees take up about 2-3 feet as a border around the area, so all in all, actual grass to cut does seem like 500 sq ft +/- 100.

I have a front lawn which is smaller than the back/side yard. I would say overall grass from all yards is below 1,000 sq ft.